Today I opened the TBH and located some day old larva. I shook off and brushed off all the bees and took the bar to the house. There I used my magnifying glass and make-shift tool and removed four of the larva to cell cups I had just made by watching a video by the Fat Man. The whole process seems painless, really, no stings. I then placed the cell bar into the queen-less hive and replaced the TBH bar. I'll check them tomorrow to see how things are working out.
The hive I mixed has shown some improvement as half the bees on top have moved down to the other box. Still bees hanging on to the combs in the top box. I have a window into it so can now watch from a distance without opening the hive. There's a lot of space still for them to moderate the climate. Later
Afternoon:
The activity in the queen-less hive has definitely increased since I installed the queen cups. Do they already sense there is hope on the horizon? The number of bees making sorties has more than doubled. Lets hope that at least one of the cups will take. If more than one does, I have my queen rearing boxes to put them in. Debra said that all her bees died in the box I lent her, so I'm anxious to test one for myself. Later
Later Afternoon:
After writing the above I realized that I could move my bars of the nasty hive from 2 boxes into one box as they had built on different sides of their individual boxes. So I did. I placed my observation on the bottom so I can check on growth. When they get half the bottom filled, I'll add another box. When I was working in the TBH I broke one of the combs off the bar, it was pretty heavy so I think in a couple of weeks I'll pull it and extract the honey. Got a great price on an electric extractor and bottling tank, can use it for the bee club. Later
The hive I mixed has shown some improvement as half the bees on top have moved down to the other box. Still bees hanging on to the combs in the top box. I have a window into it so can now watch from a distance without opening the hive. There's a lot of space still for them to moderate the climate. Later
Afternoon:
The activity in the queen-less hive has definitely increased since I installed the queen cups. Do they already sense there is hope on the horizon? The number of bees making sorties has more than doubled. Lets hope that at least one of the cups will take. If more than one does, I have my queen rearing boxes to put them in. Debra said that all her bees died in the box I lent her, so I'm anxious to test one for myself. Later
Later Afternoon:
After writing the above I realized that I could move my bars of the nasty hive from 2 boxes into one box as they had built on different sides of their individual boxes. So I did. I placed my observation on the bottom so I can check on growth. When they get half the bottom filled, I'll add another box. When I was working in the TBH I broke one of the combs off the bar, it was pretty heavy so I think in a couple of weeks I'll pull it and extract the honey. Got a great price on an electric extractor and bottling tank, can use it for the bee club. Later
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